What say you TLS? Is this a better way for law students to spend 3L than what is currently offered considering eliminating 3L is still not an option unless you're at NU AJD and such?

Personally, I feel like it will provide a degree of introduction to business and accounting that COULD prove of minor but not insignificant value down the line, should people find themselves in positions of leadership within firms and/or at in-house positions. But I'm also wary that you're ultimately just being thrown a worthless certification, even if it is coming from Wharton.

ONE semester course is not enough to barely introduce the concepts of accounting, corp fin, leadership, management, et al, much less discuss any of them in-depth. Nice idea, but other than a marketing spin, worthless, IMO.

You're certainly not going to take a major accounting or finance firm by storm because of it, but if it exposed you to at least the concepts you should be familiar with from top-notch business professors, it's better than taking "Law and the Theory Of Relativity," right?

Definitely a step in the right direction. I meet so many law students who are essentially business illiterate, it's frightening. Giving them a semester of really nailing down some key finance and accounting topics is very good, and it will also help them have some understanding of what else is out there if they don't want to do law forever. Absolutely better than yet another semester of droning away with their heads in casebooks.

Big Dog wrote:ONE semester course is not enough to barely introduce the concepts of accounting, corp fin, leadership, management, et al, much less discuss any of them in-depth. Nice idea, but other than a marketing spin, worthless, IMO.

TBF, B school is all about making connections, Wharton Bros are going to be running funds/banks, so in that respect.

If it weren't at PENN where BIGLAW and placement in general is pretty strong (and where the B school kicks ass), it'd also help law school students depressingly drawing up their shingle if it had a focus in entrepreneurship. Not saying it would make a big difference, but it definitely wouldn't put them in a worse place than they already are with a worthless semester of irrelevant law classes.

Big Dog wrote:ONE semester course is not enough to barely introduce the concepts of accounting, corp fin, leadership, management, et al, much less discuss any of them in-depth. Nice idea, but other than a marketing spin, worthless, IMO.

I disagree. I'm a JD/MBA, and I think you can do a hell of a lot with a full semester of nothing but accounting and finance. Yeah, you're not going to be on the level of an analyst at a bank, but you're going to be able to build some competency in that time. You'll at least be in good shape compared to an average law student who majored in poli sci and never learned anything about finance at all.

I meet so many law students who are essentially business illiterate, it's frightening.

yeah, I get that. And that is one reason why I am a big proponent of Northwestern's philosophy, and that of top B-schools -- experience required.

I'm a JD/MBA, and I think you can do a hell of a lot with a full semester of nothing but accounting and finance.

Do you honestly believe that all of these topics can be covered in one semester? Heck, many law students can't even perform basic math -- (see all the threads on % change). Five/six topics in only 16 weeks? Sure, nothing wrong with exposure, but a Wharton "certificate" seems to be diluting that brand, IMO.

The semester-long program will be divided into four main components covering finance and accounting; leadership and organization design; strategic decision-making; and competitive advantage

I meet so many law students who are essentially business illiterate, it's frightening.

yeah, I get that. And that is one reason why I am a big proponent of Northwestern's philosophy, and that of top B-schools -- experience required.

I'm a JD/MBA, and I think you can do a hell of a lot with a full semester of nothing but accounting and finance.

Do you honestly believe that all of these topics can be covered in one semester? Heck, many law students can't even perform basic math -- (see all the threads on % change). Five/six topics in only 16 weeks? Sure, nothing wrong with exposure, but a Wharton "certificate" seems to be diluting that brand, IMO.

The semester-long program will be divided into four main components covering finance and accounting; leadership and organization design; strategic decision-making; and competitive advantage

That sounds like the first semester of the core programming at most business schools, so yeah I definitely believe those can be covered in that amount of time. I think the downside is that MBA programs teach those courses with the expectation of ongoing study, while this seems like it will just provide a high level overview of those topics. I don't think the certificate itself is that valuable, but it will probably be helpful to a lot of the students to have the experience and know where to look if they want to dig deeper into something.

I don't think anyone, including the administrators at PENN, are saying this is like a one semester fast track to business world supremacy. I just think they saw a need for better business acumen among their graduates, saw the resource (Wharton) they had on hand and decided to make quality use of it. FWIW, these executive MBA programs are not in themselves new at all, but the idea of lopping off even a semester of LS in favor of it seems pretty practical. I know the military sends officers into these programs all the time with the understanding that what it provides is a better well-rounded officer who understands all facets of the business world, something they haven't been exposed to at all to that point. I would say it has real practical value, even if it doesn't necessarily mean better immediate job prospects.